Wearing shoe and brake hanger



March 1, 1938. F, CHAEFER 2,109,682

WEARING SHOE AND BRAKE HANGER Filed Dec. 5, 1936 W/TNEJJZJ INVENT OR.

BY a? K4 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 1, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE WEARING SHOE AND BRAKE HANGER Frederic Schaefer, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application December 5, 1936, Serial No. 114,412

1 Claim.

This invention relates to apparatus for suspending railway brake beams from truck frame brackets, and more particularly to the brake hangers and wearing shoes used for that purpose.

Railway brake beams are generally suspended from truck frame brackets by hangers connected to the brake heads and supported by plates or shoes mounted in the truck brackets for receiving the wear resulting from movement of the hangers therein. It has been proposed to form loop brake hangers, those with upper and lower yokes connected by vertical side arms, by forging them from steel of relatively high carbon content and then heat treating the hangers in a suitable man ner to harden them. The resulting increased resistance to wear of a hangers upper yoke which rocks and slides in a seat in the wearing shoe increases the life of the hanger as a whole. Nevertheless, the upper yoke wears more rapidly than would be expected because minute particles of metal which are ground from the seat of the malleable steel wearing shoe act as an abrasive that wears the yoke. Furthermore, the wearing shoe, being made of relatively soft metal, continues to wear away about as rapidly as ever.

It is among the objects of this invention to materially increase the life and resistance to wear of wearing shoes and brake hangers that suspend brake beams from truck frame brackets.

According to this invention a wearing shoe of any desired form mounted in the usual truck frame bracket is provided with a seat for supporting the upper transverse member or yoke of a brake hanger which is connected at its lower end to a brake head. Both the shoe and the hanger are made by forging steel containing a relatively high amount of carbon, and are then heat treated to harden them. The shoe and hanger are formed in the same manner in order to harden them substantially the same amount so that one will resist wear as much as the other. With this combination of forged and hardened wearing shoe and hanger for supporting a brake beam, it has been found that the life of both members is materially increased.

One form in which the invention may be embodied is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a transverse section through the top cord of a railway truck frame showing in elevation a brake hanger supported in a hanger bracket by a wearing shoe; Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken on the line IIII of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the bracket and shoe taken on the line III-III of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing, a bracket I projects laterally from the top cord 2 of a railway truck frame. The free end of the bracket extends downwardly and in accordance with the usual practice is provided with laterally projecting upper and lower parallel walls 3 extending longitudinally of the truck frame and forming a slot l open on three sides. This slot is for the purpose of receiving the upper yoke 5 of a closed loop brake hanger 6 having vertical side arms I. To prevent the hanger from Wearing the bracket, a wearing plate or shoe 8 is detachably mounted in the slot with its inner end provided with a concave hanger seat 9. To aid in centering the shoe in the slot and to prevent the side arms of the hanger from wearing the bracket, the shoe is preferably provided at the ends of seat 9 with downturned flanges ii that overlap the underlying portion of the bracket.

To decrease the weight of this particular shoe, save metal, and make it feasible to punch fastener-receiving holes 12 and I3 therethrough, its outer portion is originally made relatively long and thin and is then punched and bent upwardly and backwardly as shown in Fig. 2 to form a U-shaped portion having upper and lower legs for substantially engaging both walls 3 of the bracket. This outer portion of the shoe is preferably strengthened by bosses l4 integral therewith.

In order to look the shoe in bracket slot 4, the upper and lower walls of the bracket are provided with openings IS in axial alignment with shoe holes l2 and i3. A suitable retaining memher is detachably disposed in these four openings, a pin ll being shown in the drawing for this purpose. The pin is locked in place by a cotterpin I8 extending through a hole in its lower end.

The bosses around the shoe openings add to the pin-engaging surfaces of the shoe to reduce wear.

It is a feature of this invention that both the wearing shoe and the brake hanger are made from the same general kind of steel by forging operations and are heat treated in such a man ner as to harden them to substantially the same degree so that they both will have considerable resistance to wear at their engaging areas. Accordingly, the shoe and hanger are each forged from steel which is relatively high in carbon, for example, containing from about .40 to .80 per cent carbon. After being forged into shape these membersare heat treated to harden them. Preferably, they are heated to from 1400 to 1500 F. and are then quenched in oil, although any hardening treatment suitable for the particular steel being used is contemplated by this invention. Thus, if the shoe and hanger are forged from self-hardening steel, they may be air-hardened and drawn from a suitable temperature. In any event care is taken to harden the shoe and hanger to substantially the same degree so that one will resist wear as well as the other.

When a wearing shoe and hanger are formed in accordance with this invention their lives are materially increased. They are not only made of harder and more Wear-resistant metal, but neither member grinds from the surface of the other particles of steel which would serve as an abrasive that would wear them both. On the contrary, the engaging surfaces of the shoe and hanger become polished by rubbing against each other, and therefore do not wear to an appreciable extent.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes I have explained the principle and construction of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claim, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

In combination, a forged wearing shoe for use with a railway truck brake hanger bracket, and a forged brake hanger having upper and lower yokes connected by vertical side arms, said shoe being provided with a seat receiving the upper yoke of said hanger, and said shoe and hanger being formed from two pieces of steel containing from about .40 to .80 per cent carbon and treated to harden them substantially the same amount.

FREDERIC SCHAEFER. 

